January 25th @ Barclays on the García vs. Redkach & Fulton vs. Khegai undercard, possibly to air on the main telecast on Showtime (probably the prelim main event, if not). "Swift" Hurd will be coming off an 8½ month layoff, the longest of his pro career thus far, in the wake of his first professional defeat (surrendering his unified WBA, IBF, and IBO 154lb titles in May to Julian Williams, dropped in the second en route to a UD going J-Rock's way). "Chia" Santana will have been out for even longer, 10½ months, also coming off a loss (to Abel Ramos) - which itself was his first assignment in nearly a year after posting an upset over Félix Díaz in the quarterfinals of the ill-fated José Sulaimán Invitational tourney. Now, having been critical of Hurd in the past - I will say that Santana is a better comeback opponent than he may appear for anyone unfamiliar with him. Despite having only fought once in nearly two years since, he did look excellent versus Díaz - and he managed to drop Ramos in his March defeat. Santana has only ever been stopped once in his career (in a rematch with Karim "Hard-Hitta" Mayfield, whom Santana had previously held to a SD, and who reportedly was severely dehydrated in the return engagement, with the stoppage itself being kind of chintzy anyway), so to get rid of him would be a big statement, as much as it pains me to say (as this will be my fourth or fifth time cheering hard against Hurd with somebody I like in the opposite corner).
Kinda BS how Hurd supposedly couldn't make the weight for the Williams rematch, and yet the fight against Santana is at 154.
I'm going to the fight, first major card of the year for me. I like Hurd, he is one of the active fighters I really like and has really tested himself facing a tough line up of Harrison, Trout, Lara, and Williams. I hope he wins emphatically and pushes hard for a Williams rematch or a Charlo fight
Like it or not (I'm not crazy about it myself), he's still a relevant player at 154. He remains top 5 ranked by every major org save the WBC (and he's still #9 with them). Beating the currently unrated Santana won't vault him up, but it will probably hold the spot, and PBC obviously want to recoup some investment on him so he'll keep getting fed gatekeepers and fringe contenders until his next title shot.
